Lewis, 54, has served as a head coach and an assistant coach in the NHL for the past 20 years following a 15-year playing career in the NHL, which included three seasons with the Kings (1979-83). This past season, he served as Boston’s Head Coach and compiled a 35-41-6 record. Previously he worked as a head coach (2002-04), associate coach (1996-02) and assistant coach (1988-96) with Detroit where he won three Stanley Cup championships in 1997, 1998 and 2002.

“This is a perfect fit for our staff as we were interested in Dave taking a similar role with the Kings last summer before he accepted the head coaching job with Boston,” said Crawford. “Dave brings to our coaching staff and to our hockey club a great deal of success and a tremendous amount of experience. He is a member of three Stanley Cup championship clubs as a coach and he played in more than 1,000 career games in the National Hockey League. Dave commands respect because he deserves respect, and he is really anxious to help get this team to be the best it can be. We’re excited to have Dave on board because as a former captain of the Kings, he’ll help us develop a strong tradition of Kings hockey.”

Following the 2002 season, Lewis was named as the Red Wings’ head coach following the retirement of Scotty Bowman and he led the club to two 48-win and 100-plus point seasons, and two Central Division titles. The Red Wings also captured the Presidents’ Trophy in 2003-04 with the League’s top record at 48-21-11-2 (109 points), and in 2005-06 he worked for the team as a professional scout. In all, Lewis has a career head coaching record of 131-82-33 (21 ties).

Prior to coaching, Lewis enjoyed a successful NHL career as a defenseman from 1973-88. He played for the Kings for three seasons and served as the club’s captain from 1981-83. He played in his 1,000th career game on April 1, 1987, while with Detroit and he retired on November 6, 1987, and then joined that team’s coaching staff.

Originally selected by the New York Islanders in the third-round (33rd overall) of the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, Lewis played two seasons of junior hockey with Saskatoon (WCHL) and then made the jump directly to the NHL after the Islanders selected him in the Draft. He played seven seasons in New York from 1973-80 before he was acquired by the Kings in a trade on March 10, 1980. During the 1982-83 season with the Kings, Lewis tied a career-high in games played with 79, and he also played in 18 career post-season games with the team from 1980-82.

After leaving the Kings in 1983, Lewis played in New Jersey for three seasons before he played his final two years with the Red Wings. In all, Lewis played in 1,008 career regular season NHL contests and had 224 points (36-188=224) and 953 penalty minutes. In 91 career post-season NHL games, Lewis had 21 points (1-20=21) and 143 penalty minutes.

A native of Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Lewis and his wife Brenda have two children: a son Ryan and a daughter Megan.

Kompon joined the Kings coaching staff last summer as an Assistant Coach. In his new role, he will coordinate all areas of player development throughout the Kings organization.